Clock signals are used in virtually every IC and electronic system to control timing. For example, every time a rising edge occurs on a clock signal, all the flip-flops in a circuit might change state. Clearly, the higher the frequency of the clock signal, the faster the circuit operates. Therefore, where performance is an issue, circuit designers usually prefer to use the fastest available clock that can be supported by the delays on the logic paths through the circuit. In other words, the performance of a circuit is typically limited by the logic delays on the slowest logic path. However, sometimes the longest path delay through the circuit is significantly shorter than the period of the available clock, and the frequency of the available clock becomes the limiting factor.
To overcome this limitation, circuit designers can increase (e.g., double or quadruple) the frequency of a clock signal using a phase-lock loop (PLL) or delay-lock loop (DLL) circuit. However, PLLs are analog in nature and take a long time to simulate, and a design that works in one manufacturing process may stop working when manufactured using another process. Therefore, PLLs are very difficult to design, and often are not feasible in a given circuit or system. DLLs can also be very complicated and difficult to design. Additionally, DLLs typically consume a great deal of silicon area. Therefore, clock frequency multiplication is often not feasible using known circuits and methods.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide circuits and methods that enable a circuit designer to increase the frequency of an input clock without using a PLL or DLL, using a fairly simple circuit that consumes a relatively small amount of silicon area. Preferably, such circuits and methods can optionally be implemented using the logic resources included in a programmable logic device (PLD).